Chapter 3

Life was tight. We didn't have the money for college at all. I had planned to go work right after high school.

But in my senior year, I met Hannah Hayes, the girl whose smile was as bright as sunlight.

She became a beam of light in my dim life.

We studied together, ate in the cafeteria together, and secretly held hands after late study sessions while whispering our feelings to each other.

She even made a promise with me that we'd get into the same college and openly have a grand, passionate romance.

Because I didn't want to disappoint her, I still took the entrance exam and got into the school she wanted to attend.

But reality forced me to face the truth.

On the day the acceptance letter arrived, I told her I couldn't go with her, because I was too poor.

She didn't look down on me. She took me home to meet her family.

Her parents agreed without hesitation to pay all my college expenses.

On that point, the Hayes family did have a kindness toward me.

But that still wasn't enough to make me give up the money for the house to save Hannah.

I waved my hand. "Don't guilt-trip me. You paid for my college, and I let your daughter be with me for all these years for free. If we do the math, I'm the one who lost money."

Suddenly, an insulated food container smashed down from above my head.

A patient among the crowd couldn't stand it anymore and cursed me.

"You're worse than a pig or a dog!

"These people are already miserable, and you're repaying kindness with cruelty. You drained your marital savings to buy your mother a house, and now you're coveting the old couple's apartment. I've never seen anything like this!"

Then all kinds of random objects came flying at me.

"Beast! How does a scumbag like this stay alive?"

"Why don't you die in place of good people?"

Hospital security rushed over and held them back. That was the only reason I wasn't beaten.

I was so angry I stamped my foot, grabbed my stained clothes, and shouted at my in-laws, "Are you satisfied now? This outfit cost two thousand dollars. It's ruined. I don't care, you're paying me back in full!"

"What?!"

Marjorie's voice was so sharp it nearly cracked.

"Two thousand dollars! Jason Cole, our family isn't rich. My daughter worked so hard for every bit of money, and you squandered it like this. She never said anything, so why can't you save her?"

Just then, the doctor who had returned to the operating room came out again.

"The patient's blood pressure is dropping. Her heart rate is dropping. If this drags on, forget the organ, she won't survive!" the doctor said quickly. "Are we removing it or not? Decide now!"

Marjorie screamed.

"No! Don't remove it! We'll find a way to raise the money! We'll find a way!"

She spun around to face me.

She seized my arms so hard her nails drew blood.

She didn't even notice.

"Jason! I'm begging you. Save her!"

I didn't move.

"Jason!" She grabbed my arm and held on tight. "Do you remember? In senior year, you caught a fever and she ran out in the rain to buy you medicine. She got caught by the dean and was written up for a major disciplinary violation. She said it was worth it!"

My fingers twitched.

I remembered.

It had been raining that night. She ran back soaked from head to toe, clutching a box of fever medicine and grinning foolishly as she handed it to me.

"Take it. You'll feel better after you take it."

The next day, the whole school heard her disciplinary notice.

She stood up in front of the whole school at assembly and read her apology aloud, but her eyes kept glancing toward me as she secretly smiled.

"Jason!" Marjorie kept pleading, her voice cracking. "In college, she had fifteen hundred a month for living expenses. She kept five hundred for herself and gave you a thousand. She said you loved meat and wanted you to eat more."

I remembered.

Every time she came to see me, she took me to the cafeteria and ordered the most expensive dishes.

When I said it was too expensive, she always smiled lightly. "It's fine. I don't like meat. You eat it."

Only later did I find out she had spent an entire month living on nothing but bread.